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On February 23, the Michigan Republican Party state convention endorsed a proposed bill to let each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector. The vote was 1,370-132. See this story. The proposed bill doesn’t exist yet, but Representative Pete Lund (R-Shelby Township) will probably now introduce it.

The newspaper story says Michigan has been using the at-large system to elect presidential electors for 175 years, but that is not correct. In 1891 the Michigan legislature passed a bill to let each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector. That was in place for the 1892 presidential election, but afterwards the state gave up the plan. The result in 1892 was that Republican presidential nominee Benjamin Harrison received 9 electoral votes in Michigan, and Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland won 5 electoral votes. If the district plan had not been in effect, Harrison would have won all Michigan’s electoral votes. However, the Michigan system did not change the identity of the winner; Cleveland beat Harrison overwhelmingly in the electoral college, 277 to 145, so he didn’t need his 5 electoral votes from Michigan. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.